Lindsey Graham criticizes John Boehner on Benghazi

Sen. Lindsey Graham criticized House Speaker John Boehner for not moving to create a joint congressional committee to investigate the 2012 attack of the consulate in Benghazi.

Graham (R-S.C.) is pushing for the committee to delve further into the events that led up to and followed the attack that killed four Americans at the consulate in Libya, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.

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“I don’t know where Speaker Boehner is,” Graham told POLITICO. “I’m very disappointed in the speaker. I love him dearly but why the House doesn’t put a joint select committee together is just baffling to me. Where is he?”

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel responded: “As he has often said, the Speaker has faith in the chairmen and members of the committees of jurisdiction.”

Republicans who continue to insist that the administration is hiding pertinent information about the attack were critical of the president for not discussing Benghazi in his State of the Union speech.

The Senate Intelligence Committee released a report earlier this month that criticized the intelligence community and State Department for not doing enough to prevent the attacks but also sought to dispel some of the most prolific conspiracy theories about Benghazi. The comprehensive, bipartisan support has done little to quiet Republican criticism about unanswered questions.

“We’re going to do everything possible to get the Congress to do a Joint Select Committee,” Graham said after the speech. “The [Senate] Intelligence [Committee] report was helpful but they didn’t answer any questions about why the CIA for two weeks didn’t correct the president when he talked about a protester. Where was the head of the CIA and the intelligence community when President Obama was talking about a protest that never existed two weeks after the attack? So you have the Intelligence Community blaming the State Department, State Department’s blaming the Intelligence Community and DOD is kind of falling through the cracks. That’s why I think you need a joint select committee.”